Harry Reid’s conference room: Getting chillier?

It will fall to Senate President Harry Reid, D- Nev., to oversee the merger of the two committee health reform bills, those passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee and the Senate Finance Committee.

So who will be in his meeting room? Place your bets now. Politico predicted it would be a cozy group of three: Reid and the chairmen of the two committees, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. And Sen. Chris Dodd D-Conn.

According to Politico:

Dodd represents the liberal wing, determined to produce a bill with a strong national insurance plan, generous subsidies for the uninsured and an employer mandate.
Baucus stands in for the moderates, who want to avoid using a procedural maneuver known as reconciliation.

New York Times blogger David M. Herszenhorn, meanwhile, says Olympia Snowe will be welcomed, as well.

Jim Manley, a spokesman for Mr. Reid, said that Senator Olympia J. Snowe of Maine, the lone Republican on the Finance Committee to vote in favor of the bill, would be invited to future sessions. And Mr. Manley said the Democratic leader was prepared to go to substantial lengths to hold Ms. Snowe’s support.
“He is prepared to do what he can to keep her on board while putting together a bill that can get the 60 votes necessary to overcome a Republican filibuster,” Mr. Manley said.

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